The sacking season is already upon us in the Barclays Premier League. Thankfully for Chris Hughton, any appointment with the hierarchy at Carrow Road has been abandoned following this result.

The amiable manager of the Norfolk club admitted a feeling of relief at the final whistle after Jonny Howson’s drive from the edge of the area sealed the points.

After investing £21million during the summer, Norwich were no doubt hoping for a more comfortable ride. But as the rewards for participation have grown, so have the penalties for perceived failure. And the swift manner in which Sunderland dealt with Paolo Di Canio last week demonstrated that patience has grown still thinner.

VIDEO Scroll down to watch Chris Hughton and Mark Hughes' reaction to the match

Vital three points: Johnny Howson's goal took Norwich away from the relegation zone and above Stoke in the Premier League table

Hughton, 54, lies at the opposite end
of the personality scale to the maverick Italian. He is thoughtful,
polite and well-ordered in his work. But there was no doubt that he had
been feeling the heat.

Asked
whether the pressure had been building, Hughton replied: ‘Yes, of
course. It’s been increasing because before the game we were fourth from
bottom. That is pressure in itself.

‘We
haven’t got some of the results we would have liked. So it comes with
the territory. No one puts managers under more pressure than we do
ourselves. We take every defeat heavily. But you have to be able to cope
and you have to have belief.

‘If you didn’t believe in your own ability you wouldn’t take the job in the first place.’

But even if Hughton was worried unnecessarily, the statistics showed that swift improvement was necessary.

When
Howson’s shot hit the net, it was the club’s first successful strike in
236 minutes of football. Not only that, it also led to only the third
away win for Norwich’s boss.

Hughton
came with a game plan and it worked to such an extent that Stoke boss
Mark Hughes admitted his team didn’t deserve to win.

He
also said that Norwich deserved victory even though the hosts could
have had a penalty for a push by Leroy Fer on the otherwise ineffective
Kenwyne Jones.

SUPER STAT

This season Stoke have hit the woodwork four times, more than any other PL side.

The signs
that all would not be well in home ranks were apparent after only 10
seconds. Anthony Pilkington cut in from the left, leaving red and white
shirts in his wake before a home defender woke up and blocked his shot.

Ryan
Bennett out-muscled his marker at the far post and hit the bar after
nine minutes, and there were other narrow escapes. But the winning goal
pretty much summed up Stoke’s afternoon. And Norwich’s, for that
matter.

It came from a Stoke
throw-in on halfway. Martin Olsson won the initial header, two Stoke
players got in each other’s way and Pilkington laid the ball into
Howson’s path. As he let fly from 22 yards, Robert Huth’s presence left
goalkeeper Asmir Begovic unsighted. It had been coming.

Hughes
made a double substitution at half-time. Stephen Ireland at least ran
around energetically trying to fashion an opening.

But it was Begovic
who pulled off the best stop, saving superbly from Howson’s curler.

The
closest Stoke came was when Fer grabbed Jones’s shirt. The Dutchman
admitted the foul afterwards, laughing.

Hughes said: ‘It was a penalty
but I’m not going to hide behind that missed decision. Norwich deserved
to win today because we didn’t do enough.

He scores: And the effort eluded all to give Norwich the opening goal

Time to celebrate: Howson knows three points at Stoke could be crucial for Norwich

‘We
never really got a head of steam or momentum to ask questions of them,
so they won quite comfortably. We didn’t make it too difficult for them.

‘I
didn’t see that coming. Last time out we went head to head with
Manchester City and should have beaten them, so this was a real
disappointment.

‘There will
be days when we don’t get it right. And there is the potential to have
performances like today. But there’s a bare minimum in terms of what you
have to do to win and you need the vast majority of your players to
perform.’

Toe-to-toe: Both Mark Hughes and Chris Hughton would have demanded victories from their teams